I made a home-made ouija board becuase I have gotten an interest in them and I made one out of a very hard posterboard with the planchette made out of the same.The same night I made it I went to sleep and had a few nightmares and then a few days later the board was sitting in my room and I woke up in the middle of the night and the light in my room gotreally dim for a few seconds then started flickering then went back to normal. I also at the same time heard something in all of my stuff at the end of my bed being moved for a second or two.Soon after that I tryed to use my ouija board to contact any spirits and didnt have any success. then however when I went to bed after that I thought I heard a little noise in my room that sounded likea jelly bean or a lego falling onto my desk and I got a bad feeling and felt like someone was standing in my room watching me. I looked and there was no one there. then the next night I tried to use my ouija boardagain and I asked if there were any spirits there. extreamly slowly the planchette began to move (I had 2 fingers resting on it but I know I wasent moving it). it moved to "Yes" then I asked the spirit if it was its firsttime being in my room. and the planchette moved to "No" then I asked it if it was a bad spirit and it moved the planchette back to "Yes" then I asked what its name was and it spelled out the letters LXWT. then I said:Ok im saying goodbye can you move the planchette to goodbye??? and then the planchette moved to "Goodbye" then I put the board away.

I was quite shocked and a little nervous when I made contact with the spirit. but what I'm wondering is should I be worried about anything???and what should I do if I continue to have weird activity and experiences in my house?

Me personally, I'd never use or make a ouija. While I do believe in spirits and find the whole idea fascinating, I don't want visits from them in my home. I just don't see any good coming from contacting spirits, and from what I've heard once they've grown accustomed to a person or space it can be very difficult convincing them to leave.

Be very careful, and if you have issues in the future don't destroy the board, contact a professional who can bind it and help you dispose of it.

I dunno. Your mileage will vary. I once printed a ouija board off google images onto A3 and put it on a portable drawing board, but then I realised the hypothetical ghost in my apartment died in around 1867 and compulsory education didn't start for the masses until the 1880s, so there's a fair chance he couldn't read or write, making the exercise pretty moot. He was poor and buried in a pauper's grave, so chances of being literate were low. You have to bear in mind literacy issues when using a ouija board.

ok now ive contacted another spirit that told me his name was patrik. there was a guy that lived next door to me named patrik that died about 8 or 9 years ago.I asked him some questions and he replied making sense so I decided to see if it was the ideometer effect that was making me move the planchette so I asked him if he whouldtry to move it on his own without me touching it. he replyed: yes so I took my hand off of it waited about 30 seconds and I heard something hit one of the TV's in my room. I coudentfigure out what. then I asked if it was him and he replyed yes. these events are definitely Interconnected. I am starting to re-evaluate my plans and decide whether or not to get rid of the board

I think of Ouija boards being like an old analog cell phone. If you have no source (tower) near you, you can't connect.

really? wrote:Btw I used to play with the QuiJa board and was never impressed and soon came to realize the ideomotor effect was what was moving the planchette

While there is merit to really?'s comment, it doesn't explain away everything associated with a Ouija board.

SydPSI wrote:You have to bear in mind literacy issues when using a ouija board.

Yup! Not to mention that you can get total "gibberish" that can be translated into another language that you or anyone else in the room at the time speaks. There's no way in hell the ideomotor effect applies when that happens.

ApprenticeWizard wrote:I was quite shocked and a little nervous when I made contact with the spirit. but what I'm wondering is should I be worried about anything???and what should I do if I continue to have weird activity and experiences in my house?

Now here is when it can go either way for you depending on your personal beliefs and psychological state of mind. If you can ignore nightmares, moving black masses wandering around your home in broad daylight or don't mind cleaning up broken items found on the floor, then by all means, have at it with that Ouija board. If you freak out when you hear a loud bang or see a shadow, then it's time to get rid of that thing.

It's not the board that does anything, it's YOU. If you are hellbent on contacting spirits you'll find them. They can be real or imagined (no one knows which) but either way, you can freak yourself out. That thing is nothing but a piece of poster board with some stuff printed on it. Your mental perception of what it can or can't do will determine how high your freaky level will go.

I'll venture to guess that you already have preconceived notions that there are "good" and "bad" spirits, since you've asked the board that question already. You got a "Yes" to the "bad" and shut it down.

ApprenticeWizard wrote:I was quite shocked and a little nervous when I made contact with the spirit. but what I'm wondering is should I be worried about anything???

The only thing you should question is why you were shocked and nervous when you made contact with something when that's what you originally set out to do? As I always say, "Be careful what you ask for, you may just get it!".

ApprenticeWizard wrote:and what should I do if I continue to have weird activity and experiences in my house?

If this is a problem, get rid of the board but whatever you do... DO NOT BURN IT! For some reason, that NEVER goes well. Wrap the planchette in some black silk fabric and tie it shut with some twine. Store the entire thing in a closet until you can find someone who will take the whole kitandkaboodle off your hands. Craig's List or Ebay can usually yield someone who is interested and make sure to add all of your information in the listing. The cost of mailing that thing and/or the listing fees to get it out of your hands is worth the cost.

I'm sticking with the ideomotor effect. That's the simplest explanation. Remember I'm not unfamiliar with the board. Remember it's claimed the spirit is moving the planchette. I test of this effect could be done by counter balancing the arms and having the planchette or the the board sensitive to applied pressure.

As for testimonials. What do you have with a pile of testimonials ? You have a pile of testimonials, not facts.

I think of Ouija boards being like an old analog cell phone. If you have no source (tower) near you, you can't connect.

really? wrote:Btw I used to play with the QuiJa board and was never impressed and soon came to realize the ideomotor effect was what was moving the planchette

While there is merit to really?'s comment, it doesn't explain away everything associated with a Ouija board.

SydPSI wrote:You have to bear in mind literacy issues when using a ouija board.

Yup! Not to mention that you can get total "gibberish" that can be translated into another language that you or anyone else in the room at the time speaks. There's no way in hell the ideomotor effect applies when that happens.

ApprenticeWizard wrote:I was quite shocked and a little nervous when I made contact with the spirit. but what I'm wondering is should I be worried about anything???and what should I do if I continue to have weird activity and experiences in my house?

Now here is when it can go either way for you depending on your personal beliefs and psychological state of mind. If you can ignore nightmares, moving black masses wandering around your home in broad daylight or don't mind cleaning up broken items found on the floor, then by all means, have at it with that Ouija board. If you freak out when you hear a loud bang or see a shadow, then it's time to get rid of that thing.

It's not the board that does anything, it's YOU. If you are hellbent on contacting spirits you'll find them. They can be real or imagined (no one knows which) but either way, you can freak yourself out. That thing is nothing but a piece of poster board with some stuff printed on it. Your mental perception of what it can or can't do will determine how high your freaky level will go.

I'll venture to guess that you already have preconceived notions that there are "good" and "bad" spirits, since you've asked the board that question already. You got a "Yes" to the "bad" and shut it down.

ApprenticeWizard wrote:I was quite shocked and a little nervous when I made contact with the spirit. but what I'm wondering is should I be worried about anything???

The only thing you should question is why you were shocked and nervous when you made contact with something when that's what you originally set out to do? As I always say, "Be careful what you ask for, you may just get it!".

ApprenticeWizard wrote:and what should I do if I continue to have weird activity and experiences in my house?

If this is a problem, get rid of the board but whatever you do... DO NOT BURN IT! For some reason, that NEVER goes well. Wrap the planchette in some black silk fabric and tie it shut with some twine. Store the entire thing in a closet until you can find someone who will take the whole kitandkaboodle off your hands. Craig's List or Ebay can usually yield someone who is interested and make sure to add all of your information in the listing. The cost of mailing that thing and/or the listing fees to get it out of your hands is worth the cost.

I was hellbent on contacting evil spirits. Can you guess what happened ? I doubt anything would happen if a Quija board was set on fire, because one Quija board out of thousands made each year can't be all that important.How does a Ouija board work?http://www.straightdope.com/columns/rea ... board-work

ok now ive contacted another spirit that told me his name was patrik. there was a guy that lived next door to me named patrik that died about 8 or 9 years ago.I asked him some questions and he replied making sense so I decided to see if it was the ideometer effect that was making me move the planchette so I asked him if he whouldtry to move it on his own without me touching it. he replyed: yes so I took my hand off of it waited about 30 seconds and I heard something hit one of the TV's in my room. I coudentfigure out what. then I asked if it was him and he replyed yes. these events are definitely Interconnected. I am starting to re-evaluate my plans and decide whether or not to get rid of the board

Have yourself blindfolded so you can't see the board. Have someone rotate the board so you don't know which way the letters are pointing. Have a list of questions. Have the other person write the answers down in silence. Now see what kind of answers you get.

really? wrote:I'm sticking with the ideomotor effect. That's the simplest explanation. Remember I'm not unfamiliar with the board. Remember it's claimed the spirit is moving the planchette. I test of this effect could be done by counter balancing the arms and having the planchette or the the board sensitive to applied pressure.

As for testimonials. What do you have with a pile of testimonials ? You have a pile of testimonials, not facts.

Testimonials? Sorry, but I ain't got NO testimonials to tell. What I speak of comes from the same place that your skeptical attitude comes from and that would be trying different ways to prove the ideomotor effect. It may not be scientifical or any of that nonsense but if I even fart in the general direction of a Ouija board, curse words are gonna fly on that sucker. BTW, that's how I know who it is and it's the same spirit or whatever every danged time.

The other thing is it takes energy for a spirit to move the planchette -- not all spirits have that much energy or inclination in reality. OK, supposedly they 'possess' you to use your muscles to move the thing, so it's better if you're a medium to begin with. And as long as you don't mind the idea of being possessed in that fashion. I always think ouija boards are a bit crap, to be honest, especially without a good medium present -- and a really good medium can communicate with spirits without a board anyhow. I think any spirits you might manage to call up who don't feel like possessing you or can't get it to work get frustrated and play up instead by moving things around the room and hanging around for long periods uninvited etc.

Assuming it's not an ideomotor effect. You should do really?'s blinded test to be sure. Then claim $1M from Randi.

SydneyPSIder wrote: I always think ouija boards are a bit crap, to be honest, especially without a good medium present -- and a really good medium can communicate with spirits without a board anyhow.

That's basically what I was trying to say with the cell phone analogy. Sort of.... kind of. However, spirit or no spirit, some people get all spooked out about this stuff and their mind gets wacky with every danged bang or sound after something like this.